Kimberly Briner Conrad

Brand Marketing and Development, Global Girl

With 14 years of publishing behind her, Kimberly Briner Conrad was ready for a change, so she left her job as executive beauty director at Condé Nast to handle brand marketing and development for Global Girl, a line of multi-cultural dolls that launched last year.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Work-life balance. I worked with women who were complicit in perpetuating the idea that you could have it all, and I don’t think that’s necessarily true. It’s a series of compromises, and everybody’s balance sheet of compromises is different.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

It’s a series of little things. I was the first assistant at Condé Nast to be promoted from within. It was sort of an unwritten rule that you had to leave the company after you were an assistant. I was also part of the first job-share at Time Inc. I think it forced a lot of different publishers in that building to rethink creative work-life solutions for working parents.

What advice would you give to fellow entrepreneurs?

You always have to hustle, and by that I mean you have to always do your homework. It’s your job to go into every meeting knowing your competition and knowing who’s across the desk from you. You also have to be fearless. There’s going to be a lot of rejection and disappointment and bumps in the road that can be really discouraging. You’re writing your own playbook. That’s the most humbling, scary part of doing your own thing.